After raising three children and watching them graduate from college, Bob and Carol decided to leave the educational field and pursue a dream that had been put on hold for 35 years (since graduationg from the University of Northern Iowa). "Two in Thailand" is the journal dedicated to that dream - to serve in the Peace Corps. This is a personal blog. The opinions expressed within do not necessarily represent the views of the Peace Corps or the United States Government.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Get me to church on time!

We finally found a Catholic Church! In a country that is 99% Buddhist, this is no easy task. Our day starts at 8:00 am (bpadt mohng chaao) when we walk 1 kilometer to the bus station. It is a song taao (two bench seats on a cattle truck) that drives 60 km through many villages on the way to the "big city". After we pick up about 30 more people (many hanging out the backside and riding on top of the bus), we get to the "city". We flag down a "tuk-tuk" and get a ride to a "Our Lady of Peace" in time for the 11:00 am (sip-et mohng chaao) mass. We then get a ride back to town, do a little shopping at "Safeway" where there are no canned foods. microwave popcorn, or frozen food section, hop on a modern bus and get home by 6:00 pm (hok mohng yen) just in time to eat at a noodle stand and turn on our favorite TV program (wish we knew what they were saying)!